The Purposes of Government

There are five main tasks that the covernment must do to make community life possible.

Protection of Rights (Life, Liberty, Property)	People find it difficult to protect their rights, so the government does it for them.	An example of the government protecting the rights of people would definitely be the Consititution. The Constitution was written to ensure that the rights we have will not be taken away from us.
Resolving Conflict	Government resolves conflict because people don't know how to live in groups without there being conflict.	An example of people who resolve conflict would be referees during a hockey game, or parents when siblings fight.
Providing Public Services	Services are provided to promote the general welfare and make community life possible.	An example of the government providing public services would be building sewer systems, garbage pickup, snow plowing when the area gets too much snow. Click the link below to see an example of the government providing public services. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q3zrQsZr-_A
Providing a Common Defense	Defending the nation from enemies from other countries	An example of this would be the army, navy, air force, marines, etc.
Making Economic Choices	Government makes economic decision based on what's best for the majority of it's population.	An example of this would be job cuts, and prices of goods increasing or decreasing. In the cartoon, the customer us giving the cashier his arm. The cashier is saying that he will need his leg as well. Gas prices are really high, therefore he has to pay an "arm and a leg".